In an interview with Sputnik, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District of the Kuril Islands, Yury Trutnev, confirmed on Saturday that investors from China have shown interest in the Russian proposal to execute joint development projects in the district.

This follows a meeting by the Russia-China Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation and Development of the Russian Far East and Northeast China in Beijing, where Trutnev represented Russia and China was represented by Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.

"It is not the government that comes up with projects; people, investors, come up with projects. There was a lively reaction from the Chinese side, for example, to our proposal to cooperate on the development of the Kuril Islands," Trutnev said, adding that a special priority development area was established on the islands.

According to the Russian diplomat, "More than two dozen projects are already being implemented there [Kuril Islands], and we believe that the development of the Kuril Islands can be carried out with Chinese investors, and they are also interested in it". 

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Backtracking treaties

This news may increase tensions with Japan, since the Kuril islands have been a matter of dispute between Moscow and Tokyo. 

Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai), since the two countries never signed a permanent peace treaty following World War II.

Japan has refused to give up its sovereignty claims to the four islands, which it refers to as its Northern Territories. While Japan protests the visit of Russian officials to the islands, Russia fears the placement of US bases and missiles on the islands if they were to be handed to Tokyo.

In June 2022, Russia suspended the 1998 agreement on fishing with Japan after the latter stopped fulfilling its financial obligations under the deal. The Japanese government said it regretted Russia's decision and would like to continue consultations.

In March 2022, Russia withdrew from talks with Japan on signing a post-World War II peace treaty and halted visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands and joint economic activities on the disputed islands. The move was due to Tokyo's "unfriendly" steps over the Ukrainian conflict, Moscow said. 

In addition, in a first since 2003, Japan described in April 2022 the Kuril Islands as the area "illegally occupied" by Russia in its Diplomatic Bluebook.